


When the Moon Cries

by Orcinus234



Category: Noblesse (Manhwa)
Genre: Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Others Mentioned - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-04
Updated: 2018-05-12
Packaged: 2018-12-23 18:00:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,396
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11995065
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Orcinus234/pseuds/Orcinus234
Summary: Maduke is dead and Muzaka resumes his role as the Lord of the werewolves. Because he has asked Frankenstein to take care of Garda, he and the werewolves can visit the city whenever. There, Muzaka learns of an odd red haired boy who frequents. Something is off about this boy to Muzaka and his werewolves, so it's only natrual that they investigate.Werewolves can become full wolves.





	1. The Boy Didn't Cry Wolf

**Author's Note:**

> In this story, after Maduke was killed, Muzaka had Frankenstein take care of Garda because they told him about what Crombel did to M-21. Muzaka has taken back the title of lord of the werewolves, but is hoping to be replaced soon. Obviously, I made it so that the werewolves can turn into actual wolves. This sort of a what if…? fanfic, the ‘what if’ being, what if Muzaka met one of Raizel’s human friends? I narrowed it down to what if Muzaka met Shinwoo, because… reasons to be shown later in this fic.
> 
> This is based on one of my many personal head cannons for Shinwoo. I will explain why I wrote this story in the future chapters, that is, if the story doesn’t explain it later on.   
> I don’t know how many chapters there will be, but I will write ‘completed’ in the summery when it is done.
> 
> Enjoy, and be afraid to comment and critique!
> 
> I don’t own Noblesse.

Walking along the crowded streets of this city that he has discovered that Raizel and Frankenstein now call home, Muzaka can’t help but wonder how Raizel, of all people could ever want to live in a place like this. Of course Muzaka knows that Raizel had always felt incredibly lonely back in his mansion in Lukedonia, but this, _this_ is way too much! There are humans everywhere! Muzaka’s not complaining because of his hatred for humans as a whole, which he admits is fading, more of because of how loud and smelly the place is. He still hates humans with a passion of course, it’s just that there are some humans who he thinks deserve death and others he believes he might feel regret for killing, like those human children that he heard about from Raizel and Frankenstein.

Muzaka stops in his tracks, thinking back to when he saw a glimpse of red hair a short while ago, how the child smelled of… despair? Longing? He snaps out of his thoughts, remembering his self-assigned mission for himself and a few of his warriors – the task might be too much for the weaker members of the werewolves, because of the city, but Muzaka can’t deny that the weaker werewolves would have a guaranteed better outcome in a fraction of the time than a lot of his warriors – and resumes walking on the sidewalk. That red haired one, from what he was able to get out of Regis, Tao and Raizel himself, the red haired one – who they didn’t name for reasons beyond him – was a capable fighter with strong protective instincts which had almost gotten him killed on a handful of fights against Union agents. The kid didn’t even know who he was fighting! Raizel even went as far as to say that the kid was his first “friend” – the noblesse still isn’t used to the sound of the word on his own tongue – so this child of the four that he smelled at Frankenstein’s house was something special. Definitely special, because what he could smell of the red haired human child, didn’t smell human. It did smell human… but didn’t… Muzaka can’t quite figure it out, but it seems that M-21 smells it too, and when he brought Lunark and Kentas over for a visit a few times – the other werewolves had apologized, but Muzaka figured that it would be better if he bought along werewolves that they knew, especially M-21 – because he and his werewolf pack mates had noticed that M-21 has a similar smell. It’s not a smell that says that they were in the same place, no it is a personal smell. They both still smell human, but there’s something off. M-21 hides his smell better, but seeing that this smell is new to the werewolves, it has nothing to do with his werewolf heart, no, it’s his personal smell from before he was modified, so he can’t give them the answer, which left only one option, follow the red haired child.

Which brings Muzaka to where he is now, in the city with Lunark, Kentas, Juraki and Mirai – Juraki wanted to prove his loyalty to Muzaka and Mirai, having a huge crush on Juraki, wanted to tag along, claiming the same reason – divided to cover more ground and to look less suspicious. Oh yeah, they’re also in their wolf forms. That’s definitely odd and scary to the humans, at least the ones who aren’t staring at what Frankenstein called “cell phones” in their hands while they walk. Of course, Muzaka’s many scars might make him look scarier when added to the fact that in wolf form, werewolves are bigger than regular wolves. Smaller than dire wolves who are the size of horses, though in his defense, Muzaka was a pup at the time he met a dire wolf in their wolf form, but that was over two millenniums ago. Muzaka can only imagine what it’s like for Kentas right know, he’s a lot bigger – taller and broader – but based on the lack of terrified screams of humans and Kentas not sending out any distressed vibes, he’s doing fine.

This mission is difficult for all of them. Juraki and Mirai don’t know the scent they’re tracking, they’re big wolves in a city, and they’re tracking down the noblesse’s first friend since waking up. If anyone in Frankenstein’s house or the nobles who know him and the heavens forbid that Raizel finds out about this… he doesn’t know what might happen, but it won’t be good. But, because of their protectiveness of the children, they won’t let the werewolves near the children. Luckily, their wolf forms can help keep them undetected by the nobles, plus it’s easier to track the red haired child. Then again, there are a lot of strong smells in this city, and his wolf nose is much more sensitive in this form. None the less, Muzaka found it, plus the red haired child is pretty easy to spot in a crowd when everyone else on the street has plain dark hair and black and grey clothing, something he identified as work clothing seeing that it’s how the modified humans dress when they go to work. It’s like the city is pitying Muzaka and throwing him a bone by making it even easier to follow the kid. He has bright red hair, is taller than a majority of the humans on the street and is wearing a black and crimson leather jacket and strange dark green pants that seem to have a thousand pockets – an overstatement obviously – and a big backpack slung over his right shoulder. It looks like he’s leaving the city because they are near the road that leads out to a giant forested area.

After sending out positive vibes for his pack to notice, but not the nobles and hopefully not M-21, he notes that Frankenstein’s house is in the opposite direction, and it appears that he’s not going to meet up with the two younger nobles or the other three human children, no, he’s alone, quite the opposite of what Tao told him. The hacker said that out of the four of them, the red haired one is the most social, calling them almost every day to see if Raizel or either of the two younger nobles would want to hang out when his human friends claimed to be busy – Tao talks a lot. From the three times that Muzaka saw the kid, he believes that Tao was lying. The first time being just before he met the trio, he happened to be in the area and saw the end of the kids fight with at least twenty other humans – still never caught his name even with all the other humans screaming incoherently. The kid had been an amazing fighter, Muzaka was almost convinced the kid was a werewolf because his fighting style was close to a werewolf’s hand-to-hand combat. Of course, he still didn’t smell like a werewolf, but he still smells like… that. The other two times he saw the kid, he was convinced that Tao was lying, or just didn’t know the kid like he thought he did. He stayed a long distance away from the kid both times, but the red haired child had a terrifying look both times. The second time was another fight, but the third, the kid looked… upset, to say the least, as he sat in the grass of a disserted park at night, watching the stars. The other humans nowhere in sight.

Muzaka flinches, snapping out of his thoughts when he realizes that he caught up to the red haired kid at the very edge of the city. He didn’t just catch up though, he just accidentally bumped into his leg, Muzaka didn’t even notice the kid stop. Looking up, Muzaka sees that the kid is looking at him with a blank expression. A little ways away, he senses the other four wolves approaching, but he’s more focused on the kid because _“god dammit I got distracted and now the kid has discovered me!_ ” Standing with his head held high, Muzaka is just about up to the kid’s thigh at his own shoulders, his head closer to hip height. They just stand there, staring at each other, Muzaka’s Lord instincts refusing to let him back away, flatten his ears or tuck his tail in between his hind legs. The kid is just staring at him, studying him, and that worries him. Of course, Muzaka can’t just up and say ‘hi, sorry for bumping into you’ because he is a wolf at the moment and it would be madness if he spoke. The human pivots one of his feet to continue back on his journey, but pivots is all he does, he stares Muzaka dead in the eye, his blue ones darkening a little before he speaks.

“Stop following me.”

It’s almost a whisper, but with his enhanced hearing in this form, Muzaka hears it loud and clear. It was like some sort of trance. All the loud noises seemed to die out at the moment. when the kid said that, time seemed to stop, he didn’t hear anything else than that voice that sounds rough but melodic, a voice that speaks in tune with the dark fizzle of the fiery aura that surrounds the kid, can’t see anything else besides the blue flames in the kid’s eyes, can’t sense anything, not even the other werewolves approaching, only the kid’s aura, not deadly, but definitely a vibe that tells Muzaka to step back.

Muzaka almost does.


	2. Not One of The Pack

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lunark is upset. She just can't figure this kid out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I only found out after I wrote the first paragraph that each chapter will be from a different perspective. I don't think I can fit my whole story into just six chapters, so there will be some repeats.

This kid is definitely not human. There is nothing that can be said to convince Lunark that this red haired kid, who they are following through a strange forest, is a weak human. Weak as in their strength can’t compare to that of a werewolf’s, but this kid can compare, he hasn’t proven it just yet, but she’s pretty sure he can compare. Humans are also frail, can break their bones easily, but this kid seems like he can pull much more than his own weight, even if he’s somewhat skinny. Muzaka was right to be suspicious of him.

Lunark has always thought of herself as someone who’s patient, waiting for the moment to come when she can take what she wants. Now, she wants an answer as to what the hell this kid is. They are still wolves, all five of them, so she can’t ask him, but she can’t be aggressive towards him, because they don’t want to hurt him, don’t know his full strength and then there’s the whole thing with being the first friend of the Noblesse when he woke up. Besides, none of them actually want to start a fight in the first place. Mirai might, since she likes to impress Juraki and the Lord… mostly Juraki. Lunark’s sure that her questions will be answered in some form or another as they follow the kid to… wait, where is he going exactly?

He had long since stepped off the path made by the humans, but seems to know where he is going. Lunark smells something faint, a strange smell, but she can’t really place what it is and it would appear that the kid is following it. The others seem to notice it to or at least everyone except Mirai who keeps glancing at Juraki. She can’t really tell though, if the three male wolves can smell it, Kentas has his even hairier brows furrowed in determination, Muzaka looks… like Muzaka at any given time and Juraki has his own determined look on his face, but he looks to serious and alert. Lunark understands Juraki’s posture and attitude, but wishes that he would tone it down, because he’s supposed to look like an aloof wolf when following the kid. The red haired boy had told them twice before to stop following him and his odd aura almost made them completely abandon the mission. But they had all met Frankenstein, this aura is nothing like the mad scientist’s. Now he is simply ignoring them, not turning to see if they’re still following and not speaking what so ever. Lunark thinks he is trying to bore them, convince them that there is nothing special about him so that they just leave, but she can’t help but notice that he seems somewhat desperate for them to leave him alone. He has tried to lose them twice now, not breaking into a mad sprint, but he did cross a river using very slippery rocks as stepping stones and climbed up a steep cliff.

Suddenly, the kid stops in his tracks, standing completely still. The wolves stop as well, Mirai almost bumping into Lunark’s rear because she was distracted by Juraki… again. Lunark immediately tunes her ears, listening closely to the sounds of the forest. The Kid has come this far, seems to know exactly where he’s going, so he must feel threatened by an unseen force. She looks to Muzaka, who is looking up at the boy with his ears perked towards him.

_“He doesn’t think that anything is wrong, does he?”_

Kentas is the only other one waiting for an ambush it looks like, Lunark thought for sure that Juraki would be alert to his surroundings, but he probably doesn’t want to take his eyes off the kid.

He’s just standing there. It feels like it hours and Lunark can’t sense any danger. The kid finally moves, but it’s only a slight turn of his head to the right, but it’s enough for Lunark to get a good look at his eyes. She stops listening to the forest. He’s not looking at her or any of the werewolves, but see can clearly see that he looks mad, his pupils narrow and glowing like that of a predator. He sees something, or senses something that comes off as a threat, but Lunark can’t bring herself to search for it anymore.

_“Why the hell am I… so scared? Of him?! He’s just glaring at something, that shouldn’t scare me.”_

Before any of the werewolves can react, he side steps. A quick glint of white passes through their vision, rushing past the kids face, nicking him on the cheek. A small noise of impact is made to the left. The flash of light was enough of a distraction for Lunark to look away, turning to find the source of light, growling on instinct. There is nothing there. She makes a quick glance to the left, avoiding the boy’s eyes at all costs, and sees an arrow with paper wrapped around it stuck in a tree. She doesn’t think too much of it, preferring to be ready in case more arrows are to fly towards them.

She’s still staring to the right, until she feels another fur body bump into her, she turns around to see Kentas. He motions his head to the left and when she looks, she sees that the boy has moved to the tree with the arrow. He plucks it and immediately resumes his walk up the scent path, albeit slower and more cautious.

Lunark looks to the other wolves to see how they’re reacting to this strange… whatever that was back there. Muzaka is slightly more stiff, ready to jump into action if needed. Kentas is slightly hunched, his ears not flat on his skull, but not perked either. Juraki is still as stiff as he was before, but his posture is more defensive, deciding that the threat that shot an arrow at the boy is more dangerous than the boy himself. Mirai…

_“Did she seriously tag-a-long on this mission just to be near Juraki? She could at least try to act like she is focused on the mission. She does realize that Juraki will give her more acknowledgement if she’s doing her job?”_

Lunark looks back to the kid. He’s just walking with the arrow in his right hand at his side.

_“Doesn’t he want to see what it says?”_

They continue, the silence feeling heavier than before. The kid makes no indication that he’s going to open the letter the entire time, almost as if he forgot about it. Lunark feels like time ticks by slowly, anticipation from the thought that someone is watching them, spiking her heartbeat slightly. She notices when it gets a little lighter up ahead, she thinks it’s just a small open area at first, but now that they’re all just outside the edge of the trees, she can see that “a small open area” is an understatement.

_“How did we not notice a huge canyon near the city whenever we came to visit before?!”_

The boy moves his right foot back, right arm winding back.

_“Is he going to throw the arrow? He hasn’t even read it yet.”_

He throws it, like a spear. Just as fast and as sudden as the arrow appeared, it disappears from sight. There is a quiet whistle that followed it as it disappears to the other side of the canyon.

Lunark stares towards where the arrow went, stunned by the sheer force of the throw. She already knew that the kid was strong, she knew before she saw him, but a human can’t throw an arrow like that, that far. He wouldn’t even need a bow, he could throw arrows by hand and hit his targets more often than with a bow.

Lunark isn’t really paying attention to the others, doesn’t know for sure if they are surprised like her, but she thinks that they are most definitely shocked by what the kid does next. He steps up to the edge of canyon wall, hands in his pant pockets… and jumps off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wonder what that letter says?


	3. Do Wolves Always Land On Their Feet?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kentas follows the kid off the cliff.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late update, School has been trying to eat me.

It took Kentas three seconds to react.

_“He jumped?!”_

Even as he rushes to the edge, focus on kid who just jumped off of a cliff into a canyon that he wasn’t aware of before following said kid, he sees Muzaka already changing back into his – clothed, thankfully – human appearance out of the corner of his eye. That is all Kentas needs to transform as well and jump off the cliff after kid in hopes of catching him before he gets too close to the ground. Werewolves, like most ancient beings including nobles, can easily survive this jump, which Kentas notes looks to be about 1,000 feet, a _horrifying_ 1,000 feet. Humans on the other hand, are incredibly fragile, some can even break bones from a ten foot drop! 1,000 feet would most definitely kill this kid, so why the hell did he jump?

The kid looks to be 100 or so feet below him, and his body is vertical, so he won’t be slowing down.

_“crap, crap, crap, crap, crap…”_

“What the hell are you doing kid?!” calls a voice from above.

Kentas had completely forgot about the others after he jumped. He is still focusing on the kid and trying to figure out how to get to him faster, but he’s pretty sure that it’s Muzaka’s voice he hears somewhere in the wind that flies by his ears. It’s a male voice, and Juraki isn’t one for yelling often, even in dire situations.

A flash of grey darts pass him and it takes Kentas a second to realize that it’s Muzaka, his long hair blocking the view of most of his body, but stands out against his black long sleeve and dark pants.

_“How did he get here so fast?”_

A blue flash passes him as well, and then Lunark is there. Kentas opens his mouth to ask, but Lunark seems to know what he is thinking.

“Push off the wall,” She says. Wind doesn’t get in the way of a werewolves’ conversation, they have taught themselves how to pick out a person’s speech from the whistling of the wind.

Kentas gets it. He angles his body and forces his foot against the canyon wall, launching himself down the cliff faster.

That’s when he notices, when he sees how close he is to the ground already. Looking for the bright red of the kid’s head, he also notices that Muzaka is _so close_ to the kid, two arms reaches away. The Lord of the werewolves is reaching out for the kid. Kentas is focused on the kid, he wants to reach out too, but he might collide with his lord and effectively cause them to lose the kid. But it’s because he’s so focused on the kid that he can hear, what sounds like a whisper, what the kid says in a monotone sounding voice.

“Leave me alone.”

Kentas aims for the ground, hoping he might be able to catch the kid then.

_“Are you freaking kidding me?! He just jumped off a 1,000 foot cliff and he expects us to let him die?!”_

The kid is close to the ground, too close. Muzaka is now close enough to grab the kid’s shirt collar, but if he does use that for leverage, he could snap the kid’s neck! The gap between them is closed and Muzaka is about to grab the back of the kid’s shirt, his bag fighting the wind in one of the hands that are stuffed into his pockets.

The kid lands.

Kentas stumbles on his landing out of surprise, because of what the werewolf thought was going to be a gruesome scene of blood, broken and ejected bones, and twisted and morphed limbs, turned out to be the kid casually crouching on the ground, a small crater surrounding him. Kentas shouldn’t be able to think right now, but his mind makes the observation that the kid is crouching to avoid Muzaka’s hand, avoiding a collision. The others land with equal expressions of surprise on their faces, all having thought that the kid would break into a million pieces on impact.

Red hair obscures most of the kids face, but when he turns to look at them, Kentas can see the terrifying blue flames of the kids anger in his eyes. It’s silent for a while, at least Kentas thinks it’s a while because he’s still stunned from the whole “fragile human not breaking on impact” thing, but soon enough, the kid narrows his eyes further and turns away from them, opting to walk off through the canyon.

Kentas doesn’t know who started following the kid first, but he does know that the movement of one of the other werewolves snaps him out of his trance to get him running after the kid, ready to get some answers.

“How did you do that?!”

Still walking and not turning to face Kentas the kid answers in a slightly irritated but otherwise monotone voice.

“You did it too, so I don’t see why you’re confused.”

“I-I mean, you’re human… humans can’t survive a fall that long!” Kentas gestures to the top of the canyon which looks miles away from the bottom.

“I didn’t fall, I jumped… there’s a difference.”

All is silent for a minute, except the echo of their feet in the canyon, and Kentas wants to yell more, but Mirai interjects, finally showing interest in the kid.

“You are human, right? You do smell human, but you smell a little off,” she says from her place beside Juraki, whose normally stoic expression is slight broken by a look of confusion as he continues to look at the kid.

Lunark gives Mirai a pointed look. They already broke the rule of not showing the kid that they’re werewolves, but it was necessary… or not. The decided that if they do reveal themselves, they are not to ask or speak of his “human, but not human” smell. Of course Mirai is the one to break that rule.

“Is that so?” The kids voice is now plainly boredom, apparently resigning to the fact that the werewolves are not going to leave him alone.

“Yeah! We actually wanted to…” Lunark coughs into her arm, not a real cough, just a way to shut Mirai up, which oddly works.

“What the hell are you kid?”

Kentas doesn’t know why he is surprised to hear Muzaka’s voice. It might be because Muzaka still doesn’t fully accept humans, but since this kid isn’t exactly human – according to their noses – Kentas thinks that that reasoning isn’t completely logical. Maybe it’s how calm and giddy Muzaka looks, tailing the kid with an innocent smile on his face, as if he didn’t just follow a kid off of a 1000 foot drop into a canyon. It’s possible that that is what surprises Kentas.

The kid’s answer isn’t immediate, nor is it a real answer

“I wonder…”

Kentas is walking beside the kid, his blue fire glare from earlier keeping Kentas from jumping in front of the kid to stop him in his tracks. From his spot next to the kid, he can see the glowing yet dark blue of the kid’s eyes, his red hair creating a shadow over his face. Kentas is having a hard time telling if the kid looks irritated or bored, the shadow just makes him look demonic.

“You mean you don’t know?” Mirai starts to leave Juraki behind in favor of questioning the red haired kid. That either means that Mirai is more interested in the kid at the moment, or is trying to impress Juraki – and possibly Muzaka – by pretending to take the mission more seriously. Kentas votes for the latter option.

“I am fully aware of what I am,” the kid grits through his teeth.

 _“Definitely irritated,”_ Kentas thinks.

“Then why did you say, ‘I wonder’?” Mirai askes, clearly confused.

“It means he doesn’t want to tell us,” Lunark says after a moment of silence, glaring at the back of the kid’s head.

“Well isn’t that a shame,” Muzaka says, casually placing both hands behind his head. “We weren’t planning to leave you alone until we found out if you were a threat or not.”

“… I wonder…”

_“Is that all this kid is going to say?”_

“By the way kid,” Muzaka speaks up again. “I do have a lot of questions I want to ask you, especially about that arrow from before, but I just realized that we never exchanged names. I am Muzaka.”

“I’m aware.”

All five werewolves gasp in surprise, but their legs keep moving, to what Kentas sees is a wall with what looks like an ancient archway imbedded in it.

“Y-you… know me?”

“Lord of the Werewolves,” The kid says it like speaking of the weather, albeit with a bored tone.

The kid stops in front of the archway, which looks to be maybe 30 feet tall and 10 feet wide. He holds his bag in front of himself with one hand, using the other hand to open it.

“The other four are Kentas, Lunark, Juraki and Mirai, correct?”

“How do you know our names?” Juraki finally says, breaking his silence, expression back to it's stoic self.

“Because I’m supposed to know people’s names… but for what reason, I don’t know. I don’t really see the point of knowing,” he says, pulling… something out of the bag, but it’s so small that it fits in his palm, which he clenches around the object.

“And who are you then?!” Mirai almost yells, her voice echoing off the canyon walls.

“You’ve been following me this whole time and you don’t know who I am?”

He raises his clenched fist and lightly pats it to the wall within the archway.

“We only know you as the first person to befriend the Noble…” Mirai starts, but the canyon rumble and groans, cutting off her angry speech.

The wall within the archway fizzles. Its coloration is still the same, but it’s surface looks like liquid and moves like liquid when the boy moves his hand through it. He slightly turns his head towards the five stunned werewolves.

“You can call me Shinwoo.”

With that, Shinwoo walks through the liquefied stone wall, and the werewolves have enough sense to run after him, not wanting to be cut off by the gate possibly closing. Kentas has a thought as the strange feeling of the morphing wall lets him through.

_“Why is he willingly giving us everything now?”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel bad for making each chapter end in a cliff hanger. I love watching my family suffer when there's a cliff hanger, so maybe that's why I love cliff hangers so much.


	4. Wolves In Another's Den

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The werewolves walk through the magic wall and find a huge surprise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took me so long! I had a huge school project to work on so I had to limit my fanfiction writing. Plus, I couldn't really decide where I wanted this to go. I had an idea at the beginning, then trashed it because I thought it was lame, so I had to figure out what to turn it into and now I have a good idea. I'll try to update this more frequently.

Mirai didn't really care for the not-human-but-human kid at the beginning. The most that she would have admitted earlier is that he is handsome, but not as hot as Juraki - obviously - but that's about all that she was willing to acknowledge the kid for. Then there was the cliff jump and the kid started acting all tough and annoying. He didn't say much, but when he did, he was talking in riddles. When the stone wall turned into floating magic water or whatever, Mirai's focus was completely captured by the kid.

Walking _through_ the magic-water-wall-thing was crazy. It was like swimming, but not… It's hard to explain. What is on the other side… Mirai just wants to explore the whole cave.

"No way!" Mirai exclaims the echo carrying, but it seems like the others aren't paying attention to her, instead looking around themselves with amazement in their eyes. "There's a freaking dragon skull! A huge one!"

"hmm," is all Shinwoo gives in acknowledgement.

He continues to walk down a few cracked steps, and by a few, Mirai means there must be a hundred just to walk down to the paved cave floor. Around the cave are a bunch of what look to be glow in the dark plants that somewhat resemble plants in a rain forest. There are a few streams of water - or one big river that is just divided by bridges and walkways - that are illuminated by the plethora of colorful plants. Reds, yellows, greens, blues and purples everywhere, but somewhat organized so that the colors complement each other. The cave itself is enormous, so much so that it can surround an entire castle that looks to be a mix of Korean, Japanese and ancient European architecture. Theoretically, Mirai would think the combination would be awful, but the shadows of the cave, combined with the many colors of light and the craftsmanship of the building makes it look absolutely stunning. Especially the way some parts seem to blend into the cave walls, as if the builders decided not to cut into the wall and just gave up - but it still looks amazing because of that.

Without really thinking of it, Mirai shifts back into a wolf. The scents in the cave hit her, and she is glad that she changed. It all smells amazing. She concludes it's the plants because she can still smell the old bones of the dragon that somewhat circle the castle, and old bones don't have the best smell - at least to Mirai.

She is about to bound over to a pretty patch of pink and purple succulents when Lunark - in her regular body - steps in front of her.

"We have to keep following the kid."

Mirai growls up at Lunark, but reluctantly turns to follow the kid down the wide paved path that leads to the castle. Even after everything, Mirai still strongly despises Lunark. She never did like the other she wolf. A large part of it is due to the fact that Lunark is one of the people who killed her sister, something that Mirai will never forgive her for. Another factor may be that Lunark was able to become so much stronger than her without being modified. Mirai regrets being modified now, is sad that she is partially responsible for the deaths of so many werewolves, but… Even after everything, she is weak. They are all still healing from the fight and the bloodstones, but Lunark and Kentas are already faring better than anyone else. Muzaka is also doing better, and he must have exerted at least three times as much energy into fighting not only Maduke, but Zaiga, Garda and so many other werewolf warriors. It was always known that Muzaka was powerful, but the modifications were supposed to make them stronger. Instead, they seemed to have slowed everyone down, and cost them so many of their own people. Even the modified human M- 21 is showing signs of a quick recovery, and he's not even a werewolf! He's similar to the kid, as they have all noticed - carrying the same not-human-but-human smell. There are people who have forgiven them when they shouldn't be forgiving them. That's why Mirai hates Lunark so much. Lunark won all the werewolves over in the end, healed faster and was just so much _stronger_ in the end. She was even named an Elder in the Union, which meant that the Union had recognized her as a very powerful werewolf, more powerful than all of the other werewolf warriors. Mirai should be on better terms with Lunark by now, but werewolves are competitive by nature. And the reality that she has lost to someone who should have been the real loser just irks her.

A loud groan of old wood snaps her out of her trance. Looking up, she sees that they have arrived at the castle doors. The castle is big, although, not as big as the one that Maduke insisted on building on the werewolf land. This one also looks old.

_Very old._

"It looks like it's about ready to collapse," Mirai states.

"It won't," Shinwoo replies, walking into the main hall that is lit by what looks like floating fire balls.

"How do you know that?" she retorts.

"Because of reasons."

Oh, this kid is really getting on her nerves.

"You guys can explore as much as you want," Shinwoo says. "But if a door is locked, I would appreciate it if you didn't break it down. If you need anything or have any questions, just ask Smog."

"Smog?" Kentas gawks.

"Who's Smog?" Muzaka asks at the same time.

"He's somewhere around here. But he does have a tendency to suddenly appear so be prepared," he says, waving his free hand in a lazy gesture to the whole room.

"And where are you going?" Juraki asks, starting to follow the kid again.

"This way. Obviously."

He walks down a side corridor that Mirai didn't notice, due to how poorly the fire balls illuminate the place. She can still see the entire room and all the patterns and accessories as well as the two stair cases that lead up to a dark second level. But it is a bit difficult to discern a deep shadow from a corridor.

"And what is that way?" Juraki insists, transforming into a wolf to probably be able to see and be aware of his surroundings better.

"A room."

"What room?" Juraki all but growls.

The kid disappears into the dark and before any of them can follow him, a wall appears and blocks the corridor.

"Eh?!" Mirai gawks.

Suddenly, the fire balls emit a brighter light, making everything more visible. The kid just abandoned them in his magical castle that creates walls out of nowhere. Mirai looks behind her at the giant double doors that lead to the outside- or at least out into the cave - and sees that the doors are still wide open. Daring to test their luck and safety, she approaches them slowly and reaches a paw out onto the floor outside of the castle. Nothing happens.

"At least we're not trapped in here," Lunark remarks, probably having watched what Mirai just did.

"Well," Muzaka says, catching all of their attention. "He did say we can explore. And I highly doubt we'll be in any danger seeing how much it would put Shinwoo at risk if we suddenly disappeared. We might as well look around and see if we can find any answers as to what he is."

Mirai tilts her head a little.

"Why would the kid be in trouble if he killed us? No one knows that we followed him."

"I did tell some of our doctors and scientist back in our home land, just in case. But to be frank, I don't think he's out to kill us."

"It's still good to be cautious," Lunark remarks.

"True," Muzaka sighs, rubbing at the back of his neck.

"Should we split up and look around?" Kentas asks.

"It would be faster…" Muzaka says. "But if this guy Smog is watching our every move, it would be better if we stay together so that we don't seem like threats."

Before anyone can refute, Muzaka transforms into a wolf and heads up one of the staircases. Lunark and Kentas, being the only two that are still in human form, also transform and follow Muzaka. Juraki also follows, leaving Mirai to stand in the doorway looking both ways. Is she the only one who thinks that it's a better idea to _not_ go into the haunted castle? It seems so.

With one last glance at the glowing cave outside the castle, Mirai goes up the stairs and follows the others. At the top of the stairs she notices a sword on a stand. Upon closer inspection, she sees that it has a gold lining and handle, with a deep crimson cloth tied to the end. There is a detailed engraving of a western dragon along the blade. It looks absolutely stunning, and Mirai isn't all that big on swords or any type of weapon. The blade smells… cold, whatever that means; And she doesn't know where the thought comes from, maybe from all the obvious signs around the place, but she's pretty sure that the blade should have at least a warm aura to it, maybe even an intense heat. The whole castle feels colder than she thinks it should. When she slightly moves her head, she sees the reflection of the fire balls on gold above her on the wall. Looking up, she sees what must be the castle insignia. An eastern dragon curling around itself with its claws extended and teeth bared. Its mane reminds Mirai of flames.

"Mirai."

She looks down the right corridor to see that everyone is waiting for her. She walks towards them, sparing one last glance towards the main entrance. It doesn't close, even as she travels deeper into the castle, lit by fire balls, not once does she hear the groaning of the old wood to trap them in this dragon's nest.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed!
> 
> I am horrible at update schedules, just warning you if plan to stick around for future chapters.


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